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jmalter -> RE: OT: Book Review (2/13/2016 7:41:09 PM)
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hmm, I've read 'The Conquering Tide' - it just didn't reach me the way his earlier books ('Six Frigates' & 'Pacific Crucible') did. Mebbe it's due to format - I read 6F & PC in hard-copy, but read TCT as an e-book on my phone. Anyhow, I'll re-read TCT, reserving the right to change my opinion.
ETA:
I've re-read the Prologue & Ch. 1-4, & I really do have some complaints about this book, but also some praise.
There are several passages in these early sections that are repeated, nearly verbatim, 2 or 3 times among these chapters - I thought, "You've said that already, you need a bit of editorial work on the narrative."
There are some passages that *need citations*. Mr. Toll makes statements to the effect that 'Arriving at SOWESPAC, Adm. Ghormley's main concern was the lack of on-shore fuel storage capacity' and 'the USMC had studied amph ops more extensively than any other service.' The former seems plausible, & the latter even more so - but without cited back-up from the literature, they are unsupported conclusions presented as fact.
There's a bit of inconsistency wrt jargon - 'Washing Machine Charlie' is explained multiple times, but a description of a cruiser's damage ('sky one & sky two were destroyed') doesn't inform me about what happened - were they mast-mounted lookout platforms or AA directors on the ship's superstructure?
His narrative includes the 1st (Ichiki) & 2nd (Kawaguchi) Japanese ground-attacks at Guadalcanal, then moves on to the IJ decision to evacuate Guadalcanal, w/ no mention of the failure of their 3rd assault (Hyakutake). He describes Cactus' air ruining the 'high-speed convoy', but skips over the subsequent ground-battle.
On the plus side, I think that Mr. Toll has gone deeply into original-source material, w/ copious cites. He's a talented historian & author, justly praised for his previous work. But I can't help but think that "The Conquering Tide" needed another 3 months of work - IMO it was published prematurely.
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